This was the week that SRP launched, StructrPro, a new Life Cycle Management portal in partnership with FVC analytics and reporting.

StructrPro will give issuers and distributors including private banks, insurance companies, advisers/brokers and hedge funds access to pricing quality data combined with analytics including independent valuations, stress test analytics, lifecycle data, quantitative reporting and portfolio analysis.

Users of StructrPro will be able to perform analysis and benefit from the innovative functionality on a whole of market basis

The initial launch will serve the US market, for which SRP currently has more than 40,000 live structured products on its database. Users of StructrPro will be able to perform analysis and benefit from the innovative functionality on a whole of market basis or for their own created portfolios or searches.

The key headline was US-focused: December 2021 was a historic first for the US structured products market as sales volumes for the entire year crossed the US$100 billion milestone. Volumes stood at about US$101 billion and extend over 31,528 products in total.

This compares with 2020’s total sales figures of US$77 billion for 25,704 products, a 31% increase. Some 2,741 structured products in the US worth US$8.3 billion had strike dates in December 2021. This compares to 2,664 products valued at US$8.9 billion with strike dates in November 2021.

J.P. Morgan has announced several appointments in its equities division which houses the bank’s equity derivatives and structured products business, according to a memo seen by SRP. Francesco Lavatelli has been appointed global head of corporate equity derivatives and will relocate to London in the coming months. Lavatelli was head equity capital markets for Asia Pacific, in Hong Kong since October 2020. His team will comprise Sreenivas Jayaraman, who will be responsible for venture capital clients’ financing origination; Sud Subrahmanyan, as head of North America corporate equity derivatives; Toby Smith, as head of UK, CEEMEA & Latam corporate equity derivatives; Jurriaan Taal, as head of the specialist investors team; Andre Costa, head of Continental Europe corporate equity derivatives; and Anish Varghese, as head of Apac corporate equity derivatives.

On a corporate level, the US investment bank sold US$3 billion worth of structured products in its domestic market during Q4 2021, an increase of 70% year-on-year, while its sales for FY2021 were the highest on record, according to SRP data. It reported a net income of US$10.4 billion for the fourth quarter of 2021, down 14%, driven by higher non-interest expense, from the prior year quarter. The corporate & investment bank (CIB) posted net revenue of US$11.5 billion, an increase of two percent on Q4 2020.

In comparison, Bank of America returned to the top 10 issuer ranking on the back of increased issuance and sales of structured products in 2021. It increased its US structured product issuance to US$3.9 billion (678 products) in sales volumes during 2021, compared with US$2.5 billion (346 products) in the previous year, SRP data shows.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the bank issued US$1.1 billion in sales across 152 products, a 130% increase from the same period of 2020 (111 products /US$478m). However, the figure dropped from the previous quarter where sales stood at US$1.4 billion (173 products).

Sue Lee, managing director and co-head of equity derivatives distribution at multi-asset group (MAG) at Citigroup is set to relocate to Singapore from Hong Kong SAR next month, SRP has learned. The relocation is due to family reasons, a spokesperson at the US bank told SRP. Lee was appointed to her current role in the summer of 2021 alongside Cyrille Troublaiewitch who will remain in Hong Kong.

Credit Agricole CIB has onboarded Jenny Chen, a former UBS equity derivatives sales executive director, as head of equity investment solution sales for Taiwan based in Hong Kong SAR. Her responsibility expands to Greater China, a spokesperson at the French bank told SRP.

Maybank Private (Singapore) has recorded a significant increase in structured products trading in 2021. In the meantime, the assets under management (AuM) of structured products doubled in 2021 year-on-year due to buoyant equity markets and active advisory, according to Alice Tan, head of private wealth and head of products and investment solutions at Maybank Singapore.

“Our focus in Q1 2022 is to scale up our business in the non-directional dispersion warrants. These products benefit investors in an uncertain market environment and rising volatility,” said Tan. “We see opportunities in non-directional play such as dispersion warrants, outperformance notes and shorter-tenor structured products.”

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is clamping down on the marketing of high-risk financial products, including cryptocurrencies. The UK watchdog has established that direct offer financial promotions can only be made to investors categorised as ‘restricted’, ‘high net worth’ or ‘certified sophisticated,’ according to a consultation report published on 19 January.

The FCA’s draft rules would ensure that firms approving and communicating financial marketing have ‘relevant expertise and understanding of the investment being offered,’ stated the regulator.

Under the new rules, firms that approve and communicate financial marketing must have relevant expertise and understanding of the investments being offered, improve risk warnings on ads and ban incentives to invest.

Those looking to make certain high-risk investments would also be asked more robust questions about their knowledge and investment experience, after research found many consumers were investing without being aware of the risks.

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